BeerFest 2012!
Well yet again Mr.Beer had a fantastic Tucson Beer Festival event! This epic beer festival was a charity event to benefit Sun Sounds of Arizona, an organization that provides audio access to information for people who cannot read print due to a disability. We love impactful charities and we love beer so this was a win - win for us.
We’d also like to take the time to say thanks to our staff that set up the event and served our in-office made delicious MR.BEER beer:
Mixin' It Up With Beer Cocktails
Recently, I've noticed an intriguing and delicious trend developing: beer cocktails. They're certainly not a recent discovery; I don't mean that. After all, Black and Tans, Snakebites and others like them have long been on the beer-drinkers' menu. However, of late, I'm seeing outrageous and crazy beer cocktails and even beer cocktail events seeming to pop up all over the place.
It's an interesting proposition, taking a beverage that has already, arguably, been many different “cocktails” of ingredients along the way, and giving it yet again another opportunity to have new life breathed into it as a different drink altogether. The whole thing kinda smacks of the holidays, too – a time of year when we steep spices into booze-y cider and put back glass after glass of rum-soaked eggnog with cinnamon and nutmeg (I know I can't be the only one).
As you might expect, beer cocktails can use a lot of these same elements, especially during the holidays. Remember that special flavors and unique ingredients do an enticing cocktail make. What should you brew up that will stand tall and proud amongst another beer or even liquor?
The Gravity Of A Beer Situation
I thought it'd be a good idea to talk about hydrometers real quick. It's gonna be a help for me to have a fuller understanding of what's going on with this little brewing friend that's new to Mr.Beer, and hopefully it'll be a help for some of you, as well.
First, an etymology lesson: hydrometer comes from the words hydro (meaning water), and meter (meaning a device for measuring). What the hydrometer is measuring is the gravity of your liquid, specifically. Gravity refers to the density of a liquid. So, for example, molasses, which is super thick and gooey, will have a much higher density than pure water. Mixing something into your liquid, like chocolate syrup in your milk, will obviously increase the gravity of that liquid. Similarly, the gravity of a liquid will change with temperature. Take ice and water: both the same substance, but one has a much higher density than the other.
O Christmas Tree!
Back in the day, Christmas trees were evergreen conifers that were decorated gaily – and dangerously – with real candles. We may have lost a bit of our chutzpah as a society, cause I don't know what madman is gonna put an open flame on a pile of kindle, but thankfully, we haven't quite lost that holiday spirit. Whether its a tree or a menorah or the yard or the roof, we like to light things up during the holiday season. It's like we turn into magpies, drawn inexorably toward the all the lights and festivities and, let's be real here – all the booze that the holiday season brings. You could say we like to light up our insides as well as our front porches. Ha.
Happy Thanksgiving from Mr.Beer
Ah, the holidays have officially arrived at Mr.Beer. I know because the other occupants of our office building are having their annual holiday lunch, and this consists of deep frying a huge turkey, a process which necessarily needs to start happening at the crack of dawn (ie 8:00 am). All day, we must endure the scintillating aromas of cooking, sizzling, deep frying turkey sneakily wafting through the hall and under our firmly closed doors. There is something comforting about the familiarity of it though, and what it signifies. It's the holidays. That time of year when over-consumption is enthusiastically encouraged, and as a society, we turn into something like a Dionysian army, sating all of our cravings and desires without restraint. A time of year when the smell of frying turkey skin at 8 o'clock in the morning seems disconcertingly appropriate.
So, in that spirit, all of us at Mr.Beer just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving! We sincerely hope that the season brings you only great happiness and, of course, tons of food; and furthermore, we hope you've got some great beer to enjoy with your bounty. In that vein, I'll direct your attention to Pat and Diane's recent podcast about beer and food pairings.
And remind you that it's healthy to let loose on the holidays. Get crazy with your pairings, with your gift giving, your beer brewing and/or drinking, heck, with your pumpkin pie eating. Cheers!
